Priorites Questioned

If the 49ers don’t succeed this season, their offseason priorities have to be questioned. For example, was finding a second running back really that great a priority? And what about the team’s off-season preoccupation with receivers, despite having a promising cadre of rising youngsters? Additionally, the team not only failed to address needs at defensive back, they allowed a decent nickel back and versatile player in Donald Strickland to sign with the Jets, and they didn’t sign or draft a replacement. This in a league that’s increasingly relying on the forward pass.

What if Marvel Smith’s back doesn’t hold up?

The 49ers did sign former Steeler tackle and East Oakland native Marvel Smith. But there’s no assurance Smith’s balky back, which has undergone two surgeries, will hold up. With Smith, the 49ers are once again depending on a tackle with a significant injury history, just like they did the last three years with Jonas Jennings. That didn’t work well over the past two seasons as a league leading 110 sacks will attest. Only so many of last year’s 55 sacks can be attributed to Mike Martz’s quarterback-devouring scheme and J.T. O’Sullivan’s oblivious sense of pocket presence.

Even when Shaun Hill became a starter with his quicker release and supposedly shorter drops, he was still sacked 23 times in eight games, a high number. Nevertheless, the team obviously feels the offensive line isn’t a major concern.

Many believe the signing of Brandon Jones was needed because the 49ers didn’t know whether Isaac Bruce would retire or whether Michael Crabtree would fall to them with the 10th overall selection. But wide receivers, whether in the draft or free agency, aren’t that difficult to find. If Bruce would have retired, they could signed Tory Holt or Marvin Harrison. If Crabtree doesn’t fall, they still have promising players in Josh Morgan, Jason Hill and Dominique Zeigler along with the proven Arnaz Battle.

While none of the aforementioned receivers are marquee players, they’d have a better chance at becoming marquee if Shaun Hill or Alex Smith had enough time to throw to them. Without Crabtree, the team probably would have drafted Ole Miss tackle Michael Oher, who might have been a better choice anyway considering the 49ers’ need.

And what’s with the obsession with drafting the “best player available” anyway? Teams don’t do that when they sign players in free agency or when they make trades, why should they do it in the draft?

Look at it this way, eight tackles were chosen in the first round last year and four went this year. The 49ers didn’t get any of them. They also didn’t get any hybrid pass rushers in a draft rich with those players. So not only did the 49ers miss out, now they will have to face those players, who could become future stars.